During the month of April 2007 a collaborative Coral Mapping Project within NOS was conducted by Office of Coast Survey (OCS) in support of the National Centers for Coastal and Ocean Science (NCCOS) to provide shallow water bathymetric and imagery data over approximately 16 square nautical miles of critical benthic habitat in the Western Sambos Ecological Reserve south of Boca Chica Key, Florida.

Bathymetric and imagery data from this project was acquired with a Phase Differencing Bathymetric Sonar (PDBS) a technology which provides co-located seafloor imagery and swath bathymetry up to 15 times the depth of water. This is a significant improvement over the typical 3 times water depth swath of bathymetry provided by a standard single head multibeam echo sounder. As a result, PDBS technology provides side scan and bathymetry data more efficiently than with other technologies in nearshore and very shallow water environments.

The side scan sonar and bathymetry data from this project will be used to update the nautical charts in the area as well as support efforts to map the benthic habitats in the Florida Keys and characterize the rugosity, or roughness, of the seafloor in the Reserve. State and federal agencies will use this information to better understand and manage the habitats and organisms found in the Florida Keys coral ecosystem making this project an example of NOAA’s goal of Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping.

Office of Coast Survey personnel from left to right Mark McMann of Navigation Response Team 1, Dave Elliott of Navigation Response Team 2, Paul Turner and Caleb Gostnell of the Hydrographic Survey Division onboard the Navigation Response Team 7 SeaArk used for survey operations.